Content, billing and engagement, the underpinning triumvirate of telemedia, are all in the news this week, with video playing a particularly prominent role.
First up, MENA video platform VUZ has signed a deal with SLA Digital to back its immersive streaming service with DCB, aimed at making it easier than ever for VUZ customers to engage with and subscribe to services across the region.
With a growing user base of over 15 million, VUZ is at the forefront of immersive content, delivering experiences that range from live concerts and sports to exclusive celebrity access and global events, all in 360° and VR. Adding DCB opens it up to even more potential customers across MENA and Asia. The rollout has started with leading mobile operators in Bahrain and Malaysia, with additional markets to follow.
Meanwhile, in the US, DISH TV, a significant player in the US telco landscape, and its streaming TV brand, Sling TV are the latest in a growing roster of companies to launch and scale new subscription offerings and bundles for their customers using Bango’s Digital Vending Machine (DVM) platform.
Launching with a popular football streaming service in time for the new season, DISH customers can seamlessly add this service, with the cost charged to their monthly DISH bill. This simplifies the purchase journey and enables football fans to conveniently access the games they love.
This marks an expansion in DISH’s broader effort to bundle and sell an array of subscription services for DISH and Sling through the Bango DVM. By connecting once to the Bango DVM, DISH and Sling gain access to a growing network of global subscription partners and rapid deployment of tailored bundles, offers, and discounts, without the need for costly and time-consuming in-house integrations.
The Bango DVM, enables resellers like telcos, banks, retailers and more to innovate faster, offer more compelling bundles, and strengthen their position amongst competitors – all while giving customers easier access to the content they love. Mobile operator Telenet was the first to pioneer super-bundling with the platform, creating a next-generation entertainment marketplace that allows all Telenet customers — across TV, broadband and mobile channels — to effortlessly access and manage their favourite entertainment subscriptions.
Uber was one of the biggest consumer brands to join forces with Bango to expand the reach of its membership programme, Uber One, by bundling the programme into mobile and broadband plans via DVM. This strategic move helps Uber to expand its subscriber base by opening-up indirect channels worldwide, to grow its 19 million strong membership base.
Subsequently, US carrier Optimum and Korean operator KT have both also signed up with Bango to use DVM for super-bundling services.
Everyone presses play for video content
These two stories are an example of how content and services across mobile entertainment are exploding into the mainstream market. Video is playing an particularly strong game within the market – exemplified in many ways by Gcore, a global edge AI, cloud, network and security solutions provider partnering with Touchstream, a leader in cloud-based OTT monitoring for video streaming, to improve the quality of Live and VOD content delivery through Gcore’s edge global network.
With social media, search and increasingly rich messaging driving traffic, video is now key. But it is a competitive market. There is a growing pool of behind the scenes and other ancillary content out there that is being exploited within the DCB and digital payment ecosystem, how can you stay ahead?
One new format that is currently driving traffic hard is Micro Drama content. While immersive 360-degree insight into sports, entertainment and more power the market, the rise of micro dramas are increasingly a force to be reckoned with, as Seriously Fresh Media can attest.
The format is deceptively simple: vertical dramas, real actors, cliff-hangers every few minutes and runs that keep people hooked through dozens of micro-episodes. But the results are extraordinary: viewers in China average 90+ minutes per day watching Micro Dramas — 30% more than traditional platforms, according to Statista. Platforms like ReelShort and DramaBox now reach 30 million+ MAUs and 90 million subscribersacross 200+ countries. One title in the Seriously Fresh library, The Day We Got Married, smashed 200,000 views in its first week on DreameShort.
The hook is clear: Micro Dramas turn casual viewers into loyal subscribers. The cliff-hanger format is engineered for retention, and retention is the lifeblood of subscription services.
All this is great news for the telemedia market, the nexus of content, billing and marketing of mobile content and services and is, in part, driving a resurgence in DCB use worldwide.
DCB is seeing 8% growth globally, 21% growth in France, as revealed at this year’s Carrier Billing Summit last week – and discussed in our podcast. But how consumers pay is changing and evolving, especially in developing markets, as we report in this special report from Mexico. It is a tough market, but the content is there and now the users are flooding in too. Interesting days lie ahead.
